Dr. Michael Miesch Jr. and wife Ann in front of Paris Junior College Academic Hall of Honor Award. Paris Junior College is in Paris, Texas with a student body of about 6,000.

The Paris Junior College Academic Hall of Honor inducted six honorees for the Class of 2010 at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 13, in the McLemore Student Center Ballroom. These graduates and former students were honored during a weekend of PJC Homecoming festivities.

After a welcome by PJC President Dr. Pamela Anglin, Vice President of Academics Dwight Chaney delivered a history of the Hall of Honor. Then the honorees were introduced.

The Entomological Society of America (ESA) has just released the first issue of its newest periodical, Journal of Integrated Pest Management (JIPM), which is available online for free. JIPM is an online-only, open-access, peer-reviewed extension journal that covers the field of integrated pest management. The intended readership for the journal is any professional who is engaged in any aspect of integrated pest management, including, but not limited to, crop producers, individuals working in crop protection, retailers, manufacturers and suppliers of pest management products, educators, and pest control operators.

Michael Scharf has been appointed as the first O. Wayne Rollins/Orkin Endowed Chair in Urban Entomology at Purdue University.

The appointment was announced Tuesday (Nov. 30) by Steve Yaninek, head of the entomology department.

"Dr. Scharf’s accomplishments represent the complete package as a scholar who works on cutting-edge questions to address real-world problems," Yaninek said. "He is an envoy the pest management industry knows and trusts and an academic ready to educate the next generation of scientists."

First year PULSe student, Jeff Grabowski, has been awarded a prestigious National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship to support his Ph.D. research. Jeff will use the award to study tick-borne flaviviruses. Ticks transmit a number of viruses worldwide. Tick-borne viral diseases cause significant human morbidity and mortality, and affect thousands of people every year.

Bed bugs are a growing problem in North America, and some experts say a new solution is needed now. The concern is that bed bugs can spread easily, and they are extremely difficult to get rid of once they're inside a home.

Mark Grisold is a supervisor technician with Marshall Pest Control, he says "The numbers coming in are increasing all the time, the problem seems to be spreading." According to the company, bed bug-related calls are up at least 30 per cent from 2009, and customers are grossed out.

Purdue's forensic entomology program will be featured on Discovery Channel's reality television show "Dirty Jobs" at 9 p.m. Nov. 28. The episode, titled "Bug Detective," highlights the work of graduate students who study forensic entomology as they collect and analyze insects from dead pigs to determine time of death and other information about crime scene scenarios.

Dry conditions are likely to continue through the early part of winter and one Purdue University entomologist says crop insect pests will probably survive the mild season.

Most of the crop pests in Indiana have been around for a long time," said Christian Krupke. "They are well-equipped to cope with weather changes and they can withstand a wide range."

Indiana is located in a region where both temperature and precipitation can swing widely above and below average, said associate state climatologist Ken Scheeringa. But, with the current weather pattern and little precipitation expected until late winter, insect pests might not have to cope with too many extreme conditions.

Dr. Mike Scharf, O. Wayne Rollins/Orkin Chair in Molecular Physiology and Urban Entomology, Department of Entomology. Dr. Scharf earned his bachelor's degree in entomology, a master's in urban entomology and a doctorate in insect toxicology/urban entomology, all from Purdue. He comes to Purdue from the University of Florida, where he had been on the faculty since 2004.

Dr. Scharf is interested in adaptations in insects that drive evolutionary divergence, particularly those with real-world significance in pest management. He has developed a nationally recognized program in molecular insect physiology that features toxicology, gene identification and cloning, development and metamorphosis, and cellulosics.

The Ecological Sciences and Engineering (ESE) Symposium, a student-run, interdisciplinary event, provides undergraduate and graduate students with an opportunity to present their research and interact with experts in various environmental fields. It also raises awareness about the ESE program and other environmentally focused initiatives at Purdue University and beyond. This year’s symposium, Bridging the Gap from Science to Policy: Technology, Envioronment and Sustainable Development, took place on October 27. Jiaqi Guo, an undergraduate in the Department of Entomology, won first prize for her poster titled "Molecular Study of Fireflies, an Integral Part of the Indiana Landscape".

A team of 5 students and 1 faculty member from the Department traveled to Columbus, Ohio to compete in the Twenty Third Annual Forum of the Ohio Valley Entomological Association (OVEA) on October 29th. Seventeen students from 4 different universities and one high school took part in the competition. Purdue gave 5 presentations and came home with 2 awards for current students, and 2 awards for alumni (see below for detail). A complete account the event will be posted on the OVEA website. A special thanks to Linda Mason who coordinates our participation in OVEA, and to all the advisors who encouraged their students to participate and helped them prepare and practice their presentations. A photo of the Purdue winners is attached.

A bug named for its stench and marbled, streaky appearance has made its way to Indiana, potentially becoming a serious pest for homeowners and fruit growers.

An insect the Purdue Plant & Pest Diagnostic Laboratory received from a homeowner in Elkhart County in northern Indiana on Tuesday (Oct. 19) was confirmed to be the brown marmorated stink bug, Halyomorpha halys. It is the first record of the bug in Indiana, but it has been found in Ohio and Kentucky.

Balarabe Kausani, a smallholder farmer in northern Nigeria, is earning enough money to make improvements to his home, install an irrigation system on his farm, and pay school fees for his four children.

Crime scene investigation is more than just the subject of the popular CSI series of television programs, it also is the subject of a wildly popular Purdue course, Entomology 218, Introduction to Forensic Science.

Now, thanks to an ITaP project to retool courses for distance learning, this fall students can get Entomology 218 in their own homes just like the CSI TV shows—or anywhere else with a computer and Web access.

More than half of Purdue University’s 46 programs included in a national evaluation of doctoral programs in the United States are highly rated in their respective disciplines.

The National Research Council report, released Tuesday (Sept. 28), evaluated and ranked programs using a 5th and 95th percentile range. Twenty-five Purdue programs are in the top 20 in the 5th percentile, and seven are in the top 20 in the 95th percentile.

On May 16, 2010, urban entomologists from around the country gathered in Portland, Ore., at the DoubleTree Hotel for the 12th National Conference on Urban Entomology (NCUE). Representation from academia, industry, government (state and national) and private consultants were present. The following three days were packed with presentations covering a wide variety of topics relating to urban entomology. More than 200 individuals attended the meeting, and a total of 102 papers were presented covering a wide variety of urban entomology topics. The overall number of presentations was up this year from the last meeting, which was held in 2008 in Tulsa, OK.

The dreaded emerald ash borer has been found along the Monon Trail in Nora, in Sahm Park and at Castleton Square Mall.

This bug from China, discovered in Michigan in 2002, has felled millions of ash trees, with the highest concentration in Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Ontario. The bug kills any species of native ash trees within three to five years of infestation.

“In most cultures outside of North America and Western Europe, tiny many-legged creatures are a delicacy, and an important source of protein,” Jeff Gordinier writes in a report on a five-course Mexican feast featuring insect cuisine last Saturday in Brooklyn. “Here in the United States they represent the growing realm of gastronomic spelunking.” For omnivores who want to take it to the next level, Tom Turpin, a professor of entomology at Purdue University, offers information on three common bugs you can easily buy, prepare and cook.

This team award recognizes the tremendous efforts and accomplishments of the National Plant Diagnostic Network (NPDN) since its inception in 2002. The NPDN is a collection of Land Grant University plant disease and pest diagnostic facilities from across the United States. The National Repository, maintained by CERIS, contains diagnostic information uploaded from five regions. This project is a cooperative effort with NIFA and several land grant universities.

The nomination was sponsored by Dr. Neal Van Alfen, Dean of the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, University of California-Davis.

An odd looking moth was found flying around Lafayette and had some wondering if it was an insect from Africa.

Gaye Martin found the unique-looking moth near her Lafayette business. She said she has never seen one like it before, which prompted her to do some research. That research lead her to believe the moth's origin was from Africa.

The large amount of small moths on Midwestern lawns lately are nothing to worry about, says a Purdue University entomologist.

“They are alarming because they look much like the European corn borer, but they are actually grass moths,” Timothy Gibb says. “They are called celery leaf-tiers and normally are very minor pests to many plants.”

University of Florida researchers have isolated two enzymes termites use to break up lignin, a tough plant material that is major problem during the production of cellulosic ethanol.

Termite spit may soon help fill our gas tanks. University of Florida researchers have isolated two enzymes termites use to break up lignin, a tough plant material that is major problem during the production of cellulosic ethanol.

Bedbugs seem to be making a comeback nationwide, but experts say there is no need to panic.

"There is no question there are more bedbugs than 20 years ago," said Purdue entomologist Tom Turpin. "I've only been bitten once, when I was in Africa years ago. I don't remember it itching quite as long as chigger bites."

Dr. Michael McManus will receive the 2010 George Varley Award for Excellence in Forest Insect Research at the upcoming International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO) meeting in Eberswalde, Germany September 12 – 16, 2010. This award recognizes outstanding Forest Entomologists, both for their scientific accomplishments and their contributions to IUFRO.

Dr. McManus is being recognized for his many accomplishments over his career, including his research on forest insect biology, but also his work in facilitating international cooperation, including his work as an IUFRO leader. George Varley, for whom the award is named, was a well-known insect population ecologist who was also the first leader of an entomology group in IUFRO during the 1950s.

Sudden death syndrome (SDS) and soybean cyst nematode (SCN) bring out the worst in each other. “When the two are together, disease severity tends to be much stronger,” says Anne Dorrance, Ohio State University plant pathologist.

Purdue Day at the Indiana State Fair on Friday (Aug. 13) featured more than 50 tents and exhibits that included robotics competitions, animal surgery and the opportunity to race electric go-karts. In the photo, Miss Boilerette Rachael Bazzell looks apprehensive as Purdue entomologist Tom Turpin hands her a tarantula during the Bugs, Beetles and Bees presentation on the Purdue Live stage.

Linda Mason, professor of entomology, has been named associate dean in Purdue's Graduate School. Mason will oversee Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR), new professional development activities, program assessment, program reviews, and other special initiatives.

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowships (SURF) program provides students across all engineering, science and technology disciplines with an intensive research experience, allowing them to work closely with graduate students and professors in their respective schools. The SURF 2010 program culminated with a two-day Research Symposium on August 3rd and 4th, where participants presented their summer research work either at technical (oral) sessions or poster sessions. Fifteen students were recognized for their outstanding oral or poster presentations including our own Jiaqi Guo who was recognized for having the best biology poster about “Identification and Phylogenetic Analysis of Indiana Fireflies.” Jiaqi’s mentors for this project were Professors Virginia R. Ferris and Jeffery D. Holland.

A4’s entomology training workshop for teaching faculty was held July 10-15 at Kabul University. Eighteen teachers were in attendance, comprising a group representing ten Afghanistan agricultural faculties countrywide including: Balkh, Bamyan, Ghazni, Herat, Kabul, Kandahar, Khost, Laghman, Nangarhar and Parwan Universities. Teachers in training received books, Powerpoint presentation copies and insect collection and mounting materials to be used when instructing heir own students at their respective universities. The workshop was conducted by Doctors Chris Oseto and Ricky Foster, professors at Purdue University’s Department of Entomology.

Insect taxonomy was the focus of the workshop that included an overview of the arthropods, how to collect, preserve and identify specimens and recognize agronomic pests. Between presentations and lab work, participants made outdoor excursions to capture and collect local insect fauna.

Two entomology graduate students at UC Davis have received 2010 William Hazeltine Memorial Research Fellowship Awards to support their mosquito research -- one project involving a mosquito that transmits West Nile virus and the other, a mosquito that transmits malaria.

Tara Thiemann, a doctoral candidate studying with major professor William Reisen, received $2100 for her statewide research on bloodfeeding patterns of Culex mosquitoes. She studies both urban and rural populations of mosquitoes and their host meals.

Congratulations to Tom Turpin who has been elected as a Fellow of the Entomological Society of America. Tom is being recognized for his outstanding contributions to insect outreach and science education.

Tom Turpin has been a creative force in entomology since his appointment as an assistant professor in 1971. His distinguished career as a scholar, a leader in his discipline, and one of the best teachers at Purdue was only the background for his nomination. Tom is arguably one of the best-known, accomplished, and effective public educators in the discipline because of his tireless efforts to bring the excitement of entomology as a discipline and insect science as a framework for science education to the general public in a fun and engaging manner.

The small rodent is found in grassy openings in forests and forest edges, especially where sedges, ferns and shrubs grow, and not in corn and soybean fields. Somehow, the hardy little mammals survived a century of draining, plowing, row crops, pesticides, fertilizers and bulldozing during wetlands restoration.

On July 1, 2010, Steve Dlugosz, a Certified Crop Adviser and Lead Agronomist, Harvestland Cooperative presented testimony on behalf of the International Certified Crop Adviser (ICCA) Program and the American Society of Agronomy (ASA) to the House Agriculture Subcommittee on Conservation, Credit, Energy and Research in Washington, D.C. The committee was reviewing the administration and delivery of USDA conservation programs.

As Dlugosz said in his prepared remarks, the relationship between the CCA Technical Service Provider (TSP) and the local county level USDA NRCS staff is very critical to the successful delivery of conservation practices on the ground.

Sitting in the shade of an outdoor shelter Saturday, Karen Arvin watched her young son, Severin, chase butterflies at Evonik Industries' Habitat Recreation Area in Lafayette.

"We homeschool, so it's nice to get them involved in this," said Arvin, of Indianapolis.

"It's educational and it's fun."

Arvin and members of her family -- 11 total -- were among the about 60 who showed up Saturday for the annual Butterfly Encounter, held by Purdue University's Department of Entomology and sponsored by Evonik.

Two Entomology professors, Rick Foster and Larry Murdock, participated in a training program for an Indiana National Guard agribusiness development team at Purdue University last week. The training prepared the team to work as Extension agents in Afghanistan.

The training included fieldwork at the Animal Science Research and Education Center at 5675 West 600 North, West Lafayette, and at the Meigs apple farm at the Throckmorton-Purdue Agricultural Center in southern Tippecanoe County.

With heavy rains and flood warnings common this past month, mosquitoes have found a home in the standing waters that remain across Indiana.

Central Indiana normally has 4-5 inches of rain in June, but this year some areas have experienced twice that amount. Mosquitoes lay eggs in the standing water left from the storms, and soon their young will hatch.

As the summer grows hotter, now is one of the best times to look for butterflies in Greater Lafayette.

A few favorite places to find butterflies include Prophetstown State Park, the Celery Bog in West Lafayette and the open fields along the Wabash Trail near the Tippecanoe Battlefield Monument in Battle Ground.

Each year, ISS acknowledges a student(s) and a community volunteer for outstanding commitment to Purdue’s international students. Over the two weeks before classes begin, ISS processes nearly 2,000 incoming students. Our staff alone could not tackle this huge task without the help of our dedicated volunteers – this year nearly 130 -- who serve year after year helping new international students with the processing of documents, meeting arriving airport shuttles, explaining important information and providing a warm welcome.

A Purdue University researcher hopes a better understanding of the neurological system of the body louse through the mapping of its genome will lead to better control or elimination of the human parasite.

Catherine Hill, an associate professor of entomology, with postdoctoral researchers Jason M. Meyer and Janice Pagel VanZee, and former undergraduate student Emily Krause contributed to the overall genome-mapping effort led by the University of Illinois and published online Monday (June 21) in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The body louse genome is the smallest known genome of any insect, said University of Illinois entomology professor Barry Pittendrigh, who led the drive to fund the project and coordinated the international team of scientists who analyzed the sequence.

Experience Bug Bowl 2010 compressed into 3 minutes and 45 seconds for YouTube! Bug Bowl was filmed by Purdue Marketing and Media for its video news magazine telecast on the Big Ten Network. The clips assembled in this segment will also appear on the web as part of Purdue's viral marketing initiative. Savor the flavor of one of the most successful Bug Bowl events in its twenty year history! Check out some of the highlights here!

Wheat plants found to be resistant to Hessian fly larvae may be calling in reinforcements to build up rigid defenses.

Christie Williams, a research scientist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service and a Purdue University associate professor of entomology, found that resistant plants under attack by Hessian fly larvae increased production of surface waxes and cutin, a molecule responsible for rigidity and integrity of epidermal cells. In plants susceptible to the fly larvae, the genes thought to be responsible for cutin production were turned off - likely by the attacking larvae.

Long-term ecological effects of transgenic Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) crops on non-target pests have received limited attention, more so in diverse smallholder-based cropping systems of the developing world. Field trials conducted over 10 years in northern China show that mirid bugs (Heteroptera: Miridae) have progressively increased population levels and acquired pest status in cotton and multiple other crops, in association with a regional increase in Bt cotton adoption. More specifically, our analyses show that Bt cotton has become a source of mirid bugs and that their population increases are related to drops in insecticide use in this crop. Hence, alterations of pest management regimes in Bt cotton could be responsible for the appearance and subsequent spread of non-target pests at an agro-landscape level.

Jeff, Christian and Doug has been granted tenure and promoted to Associate Professor. The Board of Trustees gave final approval for these promotions today. These promotions take effect on July 1st. Click on the title to see photos of Jeff, Christian and Doug receiving the good news from Dean Akridge.

Congratulations to Grzesiek Buczkowski who received the 2010 ESA NCB Recognition Award in Urban Entomology at the branch meeting awards banquet this week in Louisville, Kentucky. Grzesiek was recognized for his many accomplishments in urban entomology, particularly his research on urban ants.

Dr. Buczkowski's career in urban entomology spans over 12 years and begun in 1997 at Rhone-Poulenc Agricultural Company in Research Triangle Park where he performed pioneering work on fipronil bait for fire ant control.

The first systematic lifestyle survey of odorous house ants confirms how much a modest country dweller can change habits in the big city, according to urban entomologist Grzegorz Buczkowski of Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind.

Raymond A. Cloyd, a professor and extension specialist in the Department of Entomology at Kansas State University (Manhattan, KS), was promoted to full professor in February. Dr. Cloyd was also the recipient of four awards. The first was the 2009 Ohio Florist Association's Bulletin Author of the Year, and he also received three Awards of Merit from the American Rose Society associated with three articles that appeared in publications from the Nashville Rose Society. The articles were 1) "Dormant Oils--Everything You Wanted To Know," 2) "Diffusing Misconceptions About Thrips," and 3) "What Every Rose Grower Should Know About Colony Collapse Disorder."

PCT recently caught up with David Mueller, president and founder of Insects Limited and Fumigation Service & Supply. Mueller is a leading authority on stored product pests who recently authored a book titled "Reducing Customer Complaints in Stored Products." In the following podcast Mueller discusses several topics related to stored product pests and previews his latest book.

Resistant wheat plants stave off attacks by Hessian fly larvae by essentially destroying the fly's midgut and its ability to absorb nutrients, according to a study by Purdue University and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Hessian fly larvae midguts – similar to human intestines – were observed in three different feeding situations. Larvae on susceptible plants had normal midgut function. Those that were given nothing to eat showed no damage to the midgut, though they starved. But those on plants resistant to Hessian flies showed serious midgut disruption.

After trying some 50 arrangements of household objects, researchers have come up with a new low-cost, homemade bed-bug detector.

To lure the bugs out of hiding, Wan-Tien Tsai of Rutgers University in New Brunswick put dry ice into an insulated, one-third-gallon jug, the kind available at sports or camping stores. Adding 2.5 pounds of dry ice pellets and not quite closing the pour hole allowed carbon dioxide to leak out at a bug-teasing rate for some 11 hours at room temperature, she said.

Five Entomology/CERIS staff were recognized on Thursday (1/28) for their years of service to Purdue at the Provost’s Recognition Luncheon. The honored included Bill Kielhorn (10 years), Susan Schechter (15), Joe Hegarty (25), Zakia Kazem (25) and Tammy Luck (30). Congratulations to Bill, Susan, Joe, Zakia and Tammy for their loyalty and dedication to Purdue University and the Department of Entomology. The attached photo include those able to attend the ceremony.

WASHINGTON, Jan. 19, 2010—Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture has allocated $45 million, provided by Section 10201 of the 2008 Farm Bill, for projects to build and preserve critical plant health safeguarding initiatives across America. Funding will be provided to more than 50 cooperators including state departments of agriculture, universities, nonprofit organizations and USDA agencies in support of over 200 projects. These state, regional, and national projects will support the Farm Bill goals of building strong systems to safeguard the health of our agricultural industries using early plant pest detection and surveillance, threat identification and mitigation.

Congratulations to Gloria I. Giraldo-Calderon who is a recipient of a 2009 Entomological Society of America (ESA) student award. Gloria is a Ph.D. student working with Associate Professor, Dr. Catherine Hill in the Department of Entomology. She is conducting research to understand the process of vision in mosquitoes.

This past December, Gloria earned first place in the Medical Entomology division of the ESA Student Competition for a presentation on her thesis research at the 2009 ESA Annual Meeting in Indianapolis, Indiana. The title of her presentation was "Mosquito vision: molecular evolution and functional characterization of the opsins in Anopheles gambiae and Aedes aegypti".

In the blustery cold confines of West Lafayette, Indiana, Gary Bennett gets but a moment of rest. The annual Purdue Pest Management Conference - Bennett's baby for the past 39 years - has just wrapped up and the PMP Hall of Famer quickly shifts his attention to a new labor-intensive project.

He sends an e-mail to two of his longtime friends and former students at Purdue, John Owens and Bobby Corrigan, informing them that it's time. The three entomologists get together by a conference call and begin discussions on the project that will consume their lives for the next 11 months - updating Truman's Scientific Guide to Pest Management Operations.